Dark Souls Launches In Japan, Online Mode Goes Dark On Day One

Dark Souls went on sale in Japan a few hours ago and as users logged online they noticed a number of bugs. From Software’s game shipped with freezing phantoms.

In an effort to fix the problems, From Software suspended online play and asked users to please play offline while they address the issues. That screen on the left with the "?Dialog?" box is what you’ll see when you play offline. Like Demon’s Souls before it, online play is core element in Dark Souls. Bloodstains let you see how other characters fared and what traps lie ahead. Players can also invade each others games and if you have the right item curse another players world with more monsters.

Dark Souls comes out on October 4 in North America as a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game. In Japan, Dark Souls was released as a PS3 exclusive.